Because then his men wouldn't want to leave.
Not to eat the lotus plants
lotus flowers to eat
No. The Lotus eaters only ate lotus plants and were peaceful.
The Lotus Eaters treated Odysseus and his men with hospitality, offering them the lotus plant to eat. However, the lotus had a narcotic effect that caused the men to forget their homes and desires to return to Ithaca. This led to some of Odysseus's crew becoming lethargic and unwilling to leave the island. Ultimately, Odysseus had to forcefully bring them back to their ship to continue their journey.
Odysseus' have no desire for home any longer and just want to stay on the island. Odysseus has to tie them up and drag them out of the island.
Odysseus finds his men sent to ahead to scout hopelessly addicted to the lotus fruit. The plant once consume make the person forget everything except the want to say and eat the lotus fruit. Odysseus had to drag them back to the ship by force and tie them to their seats as they sailed away from the island.
It made his men forget about wanting to return home to Ithaca. They are content to merely eat lotus for the rest of their lives. If a man eats the flower, they never want to leave the island of the lotus eaters.
Eat The Halios' Cattle
If his crew eat the Lotus, they will lose all desire to return home. Odysseus needs the men to return home himself, and he is responsible for these men.
The Lotus. He also told them to not eat Helios' cattle.
The lotus makes those who eat it lose their desire to return home, trapping them in a state of blissful forgetfulness. This poses a threat to Odysseus' mission to return to Ithaca, as his crew might be tempted to stay on the island and abandon their journey.
The men who eat the lotus become very content and forget about returning home. They have to be dragged back to the ship by Odysseus so that they will not stay on the island forever, only desiring to eat lotus.